


Return

by ChibiTabatha



Series: Not Yet Lost, Only Found [1]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 10:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20619695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiTabatha/pseuds/ChibiTabatha
Summary: It's the anniversary of the accident. Link plans to spend it like every time before that.Maybe for once the world will listen to his grievances.





	Return

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't written anything in almost a month. I want to thank MythicalCatie for beta reading this. But also I wanna thank my pal Kaiju_Wars who pretty much tells me to do things every day and honestly? He's like the family I need somedays.
> 
> This fic was based off of a song, called "Return" by Ok Go. You should check them out. And although a lot of the song lyrics sound pretty depressing the music has this kinda upward tilt near the end that made me think of happiness and hope and here is what we got.

_Laughter, sunbeams filtering through trees, the soft burbling of water. They made Link incredibly happy, his own laughter escaping his tiny chest into the expanse of the world. He was chasing a blond boy, his best friend, Rhett.  
  
__Rhett McLaughlin. A year older than him, barely. He only lorded it over him sometimes.  
  
__The blond turned around, a familiar smile flashing across sun kissed skin.  
  
__Link could feel his face pulling into a frown. He couldn't make out his friends face. Just blond hair and a fading smile.  
  
_Loud beeping brought Link out of the dream. Fumbling for his alarm, he pushed buttons until the dang thing turned off. Flopping back into the bed, he let his arm cover his eyes, hiding away from the faint morning light in the crook of his elbow.  
  
His chest was tight, he wanted to cry. Sure it had been _years_, but that didn't mean he was happy to see his best friend fading from his memories like that.  
  
The beeping returned and Link groaned. He sat up, swinging his feet off the edge of the bed and grabbed the confounded device to turn it off. Placing the dumb thing back down slightly harder than necessary, Link got up to start his day.  
  
The calendar date mocking him as he passed by it to get out of his room and towards his kitchen. Getting coffee and cereal, that was the focus. Soft, faded laughter echoed in his ears before the sound of the coffee machine roaring to life drowned it out.  
  
The soft clatter of Mini Wheats into a bowl. The soft rush of milk from the jug. The gentle slosh of coffee into his mug. Chair scraping across linoleum and grating against his ears. The soundscape of his morning ritual drowning out the lingering feelings brought on by the unwanted dream.  
  
_"You really like cereal, huh Link?" Rhett leaned against the table before Mama Di chided him against such behavior.  
  
__"It's m' favorite!"  
  
_Link's spoon clattered into the bowl, both his hands pressing against his eyelids. "Please... Stop..."  
  
Each breath was a struggle, the burn of tears right there behind his eyes. What he wouldn't give to just sleep today away. Today was always the hardest.  
  
His phone ringing drew his gaze up and away from his half-eaten meal. Moving towards the handset he picked it up, "Neal speaking."  
  
"Good morning Link," his Mama's voice calmed all his screaming nerves.  
  
"Mornin' Mama."  
  
"Now, I was just callin' ta’ let you know, we're here for you, okay?"  
  
"Thank you Mama," Link brushed at a few stray tears that had escaped from their lashed prison.  
  
"I just know how hard it's been for my baby since y'all lost the McLaughlin boy."  
  
"Mama, I don-"  
  
"Don' wanna talk 'bout it. I know. I know. M' sorry Link. Ya haven't wanted ta’ talk 'bout it ever. I don' know how good that is for ya," she said worry dripping from her voice.  
  
"I know Mama. I know. Look. I," Link took a steadying breath, preparing the age-worn lie, "I gotta get going. I have plans."  
  
"A'right lovebug. We miss you. Do think about visiting us. I know it's a long drive, but we would love ta’ see y'all again," Sue's voice was strained.  
  
"I love you and miss you too. I'll see if I can get some time off work soon. I'll talk to you soon. Bye," Link hummed through his Mom's farewell before letting the handset sit back in its cradle.  
  
Sitting back at the table, his cereal soggy and his coffee cold, he continued where he left off. Spoonful after spoonful of sugary mush, and mouthful after mouthful of bitter coffee.  
  
Rinsing his dishes, he left them in the sink to wash later. Link had a date with his bed.  
  
Falling back into the sheets he bundled himself in his blanket and stared at the covered window. Just like his memories of Rhett, his vision was fuzzy and unfocused. This time when the tears burned at the back of his eyes and throat, he let them come.  
  
_"M' going home ta’ Georgia," the blond shifted his backpack.  
  
__"D'ya hafta?" Link kicked a rock down the road.  
  
__"G'nna see family. G'nna get on a plane. I'll be back before y'know it, bo."  
  
_"Then why didn't you come home, Rhett?" Link called out to his empty room, the question escaping into his equally empty apartment and evaporating into the world outside.  
  
The plane went down, only a handful of survivors making it to some hospital in another state. Link was too traumatized to remember the details. Sitting by the phone day in and day out. All summer long. Waiting to hear the familiar voice calling him 'bo', waiting to hear the apology for making him worry.  
  
He watched as some relatives of Rhett's emptied out the McLaughlin residence, the house barren before he knew it. Still no sign of Rhett, Cole, or even his folks. He couldn't bring himself to ask them where they were. He was still hanging onto that small thread of hope.  
  
Link let the sobs wrack his frame, let the tears stain his pillow, let the pain choke and smother him under its familiar weight.  
  
Slowly the tears tapered off, his face and neck sticky with them, the few that got caught in his ears, making them feel cool and uncomfortable.  
  
"You were supposed to return..." the words were soft, heartbroken, time-worn like the lie he told his mother.  
  
Link rubbed at the mess on his face, doing little more than smearing it across his cheeks. A sigh escaped past parted lips. He couldn't mope around home all day. A shower and then: public moping.  
  
Hauling himself out of bed for the second time, he slowly made his way over to the bathroom. Fiddling with the shower, he set it to scalding hot. Shedding his sleepwear, he stepped under the merciless spray of water.  
  
_"How long d'ya th'nk y'll be gone fer?"  
  
__The blurry blond scratched at his chin, "Reckon two weeks tops."  
  
_"Try eternity..." the steam dampened and swallowed the words.  
  
Link went through the motions of robotically cleaning his hair and his body y, trying his best to keep all thoughts out of his head and running purely on autopilot. Shampoo on the right, conditioner on the left. How it had been since his vision started to blur around the edges and focusing his gaze became a Herculean task.  
  
Steam billowed around him as he toweled off and glanced at the fogged-up mirror, a dark blur looking at him through the glass. He couldn’t help but let his mind wander to what Rhett would look like now. Would he be taller than Link? He had grown pretty tall even as a child. Then again, Link was six foot even now and that was pretty tall for some.  
  
Would his hair have gotten darker? Would he also have signs of graying like Link had in his own dark hair? Would he have grown a beard? Would he shave every day like Link had? Would his vision be blurry while looking at things in the distance? Or up close? Or not at all? Link took as large a breath as the dense steam-filled air would let him, then he stepped out of the cocoon of warmth and into the hall, a towel wrapped around his hips. The cool of the rest of the apartment bit into his damp skin, driving him towards his room and his closet.  
  
Plucking a light sweater from the closet, he turned to his dresser. Shuffling through several drawers, he finally pulled out a pair of relaxed jeans and a graphic tee, socks and boxers following the other articles to his unmade bed.  
  
Toweling the last of the damp from his body, he got dressed slowly. He wasn’t looking forward to a day not working, but he also wouldn’t be able to work. Especially with his mind circling back to his best friend every moment he let his guard down. Would Rhett wear t-shirts like he did, or would he wear button-ups and polos like Link wore at work?  
  
He sighed before tugging the sweater on over his head. He had to stop doing this. He was a grown-ass man. He was forty-one. The accident had been twenty-eight years ago. He should be past this. Yet his brain supplied him with thoughts of how Rhett was supposed to grow old with him. How they were supposed to spend their teen years reckless and unfrightened, exploring the world side-by-side. Shaking his head of the intruding thoughts, he grabbed his keys and moved through his apartment.  
  
Stepping through his door and into the afternoon sun, he promised himself like he did every year: This is the last time. Letting his feet take him through the familiar streets, he wandered. He had no set destination, he never did. Just needed to get out of the quiet of his apartment.  
  
Eventually his feet began to ache, the sun too warm on his face, clothes sticking to him uncomfortably. A break was in order. He let his tired feet carry him to a fountain, the soft sound of the running water attracting him to its edge.  
  
Setting himself down on the stone edge, he let himself slowly come into his surroundings. A slightly busier part of town, with small shops dotting the roads leading out from the small hub the fountain was in. A flash of green in one of the store-front’s caught his eye.  
  
A few small planters holding flowers lined a small patio, the green leaves reaching as far towards the sun as possible. Rhett’s eyes had been green. Or gray? It was hard to recall.  
  
Yet green was what his heart told him was right. Green, with hints of gray. Green like trees in Buies Creek, gray like the waters of the Cape Fear River. Eyes that would make him think of home if they were still here.  
  
Laughter rang out over the soft din of the public space. It was deeper, but it sounded just like the laugh from his dream. Link’s head whipped towards the sound.  
  
A tall man was leaning against the side of a food truck, his back to Link. He was tall. Even from this distance, Link thought the man might be even taller than six feet. Dirty blond hair was styled to look both neat and wild at the same time. The laugh rang out again and it hit Link in the chest with the blow of a sledge hammer.  
  
There was no way. “Turn around…” he muttered softly, to himself and to the world. Urging it to work with him for once.  
  
For once, the world listened.  
  
The man turned around, and while Link took brief notice of the full beard on the man’s face, the thing that caught his attention were the man’s __eyes. Green like the trees, gray like the water, familiar like his own face in the mirror.  
  
He stood slowly, his heart racing so fast in his chest he was worried it would break past his ribs and run away without him. He took a slow step towards the man with the eyes of his best friend.  
  
“Rhett?” his voice trembled and caught even as he called out to the man. The man stopped and looked around, his eyes glancing over Link to try and locate where the call had come from. Again, “Rhett!” he called out with more surety. Taking another step towards the blond.  
  
This time, those eyes that made him think of home narrowed in on him. The man’s brow furrowed, confusion taking over his features. Link took another step forward and willed with all his might that this was not a dream. That this was real. That this was his Rhett and not some poor stranger.  
  
“Link?” a deep baritone voice called out, and Link ran to him.  
  
He didn’t care who saw, he didn’t care what anyone thought. He wrapped his arms around his best friend and sobbed. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for sticking through to the end. If you want, scream at me in the comments or on [tumblr](https://chibitabathasloves.tumblr.com/)! If you guys want to see more of this, let me know. I don't know if I have anything more to write for it but you never know,


End file.
